Ladder engaged paint pan supporting device



Nov- 21, 1 61 J. N. MUNNIKHUYSEN 3,009,677

LADDER ENGAGED PAINT PAN SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed June 9, 1960 4 P 11 4 U L 4 W 24 W25 A6 4011 3% Jon AlMunmkfi zi -m BY W 1 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,009,677 LADDER ENGAGED PAINT PAN SUPPORTING DEVICE Jon N. Munnikhuysen, 395 Young St., Wilson, N.Y. Filed June 9, 1960, Ser. No. 34,992 1 Claim. (Cl. 248357) This invention relates to a ladder engaged paint pan supporting device and proposes a device having a pan supporting saddle of novel form which may be readily applied to or removed from a pan of the form currently used with stepladders and is connected in hinged relation to the upper end of a ladder rung engaging supporting leg.

The objects of the invention are to enable the use of the paint pan in connection with long standard ladders, including extension ladders, in a painting operation in which the paint is applied 'by a roller brush and the painting is from the top down; to provide for the quick and ready shifting of the device and the paint pan, as may be necessary from time to time as the work proceeds, from an upper position on the ladder to a lower position; and to provide for the quick and ready connection or disconnection of the saddle and the paint pan.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation showing the device as in use, this figure showing the ladder, the paint pan, the pan supporting saddle and the ladder rung engaging leg to which the saddle is connected and also showing in broken lines the device in a lower position on the ladder.

FIGURE 2 is a central vertical section showing the paint pan supporting device on the ladder, the supporting leg being shown in side elevation.

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the supporting device and a portion of the paint pan.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE -1 shows the ladder 1 with its rungs 2 having the usual spacing of a foot. At or near its upper end the ladder may carry the usual inwardly projecting bracket 3 which abuts the wall W to be painted and suitably spaces the upper end of the ladder from the wall. The paint pan 4 is shown in an upper position and in broken lines in a lower position and projects from the ladder toward the wall W. FIGURE 1 also shows the roller brush 5 resting in the pan 4 with its handle projecting forward from the ladder.

The pan 4 is in a form in current use with stepladders, is of rectangular outline and at one end is formed With a deeper portion which provides a paint well 6. The end of the pan at the right (the drawing being considered) may be arbitrarily called its front end and its end at the left where the well '6 is provided may be called its rear end. The pan 4 includes side walls 7, a transverse front wall 8, a transverse rear wall 9 and a bottom 10. The bottom 10 has a portion 11 which extends at an angle (downward, the drawing being considered) from the front wall 8 toward the well 6, within the area of the well has a portion 12 which extends in parallel relation to the upper edges of the side walls 7 and between its portions 12 and 11 has a portion 13 which extends in angularly inclined relation, that is to say, downward from the portion 11 to the portion 12, the downwardly extending portion 13 functioning as a shoulder as will be later described. At its front end the pan 4 carries a pair of L-shaped brackets 14 which are suitably attached to the wall 8 and project below it, these brackets when the pan is used with stepladders engaging over the front edge face of the step and as used with a standard ladder engaging over -a rung 2 as shown in ice FIGURE 2, the lower horizontal arms of the brackets 14 being substantially co-planar with the wall portion 12 of the pan bottom 10.

The pan supporting saddle is designated generally as 15 and viewed in elevation is of general- U-shape as shown in FIGURE 4. The saddle 15 includes a horizontal wall 16 and vertical side walls 17, each having a downwardly inturned portion 18 along its upper edge. The wall 16 conforms in inclination to the portion 13 of the pan bottom and'the saddle side walls in conformity to the inclination of the wall 16 have their front edges suitably shorter than their rear edges. In the use of the saddle, the wall 16 extends under the inclined portion 13 of the pan bottom 10 and has abutting engagement with it, thereby to provide a support for the pan. The side walls 17 adjoin the pan side walls 7 at their outer sides and the inturned portions 18 engage over the beaded upper edges of the pan side walls 7. Along its inner edge and at a central location the saddle wall 16 is connected by a hinge 19, to a supporting leg 20. The leg 20, in order that it may be lengthened or shortened as circumstances may require, it made in upper and lower sections 21 and 22 in overlying relation for portions of their extent, the overlying portions being formed with registering slots 23 to accommodate the shank of a bolt and nut fastening 24 by means of which the sections 21 and 22 may be connected in rigid relation. The lower leg section 22 is formed at its lower end with a fork 25 to engage over the ladder rung 2 next'below the rung which is engaged by the brackets 14.

With the pan in use the upper edges of its vertical walls are in a horizontal plane. The pan bottom wall portion 11 extends from the pan bottom wall portion 13 in converging relation to the upper edges of the vertical walls of the pan toward the pan front wall 8. In the application of the saddle 15 to the pan the saddle is initially fitted to the pan at a point immediately inward of the brackets 14 with the inturned edge portion 18 of one of its side walls 17 engaged over the beaded upper edge of an adjacent pan side wall 7, with its bottom wall 16 extending under the inclined portion 11 of the bottom wall of the pan and with its opposed side wall 17 extending adjacent the opposed side wall 7 of the pan. Thereupon the pan, by downward pressure relatively to the saddle, the unengaged side wall 17 of the saddle yielding resiliently, is brought into a position in which the downturned edge portion 18 of the unengaged side wall 17 snaps over the upper edge of the adjacent pan side wall 7, both of the inturned portions 18 of the saddle side walls 17 being thereupon engaged with the pan side walls 7. The saddle is thereupon moved slidably along the pan until its horizontal wall 16 is positioned under and in engagement with the portion 13 of the pan bottom 10, the portion 13 functioning as a shoulder to limit the slidable movement of the pan and the pan being then clampingly held by the saddle against any loose play.

With the saddle thus positioned, the pan is secured at the appropriate location upon the ladder in the manner shown in FIGURE 2., that is to say, with its brackets 14 engaging an upper rung and its leg 20 engaging the next lower rung. With the ladder properly positioned relatively to the wall W the well 6 is filled to the required level with paint. When the painter, operating from the top of the wall, down, has completed the painting of the part of the wall within his reach, he then disengages the pan from the ladder and moves the pan downward a rung, at the same time taking his position upon a lower rung. In disengaging the pan from the ladder in order to relocate the pan the painter, grasping either the pan or the leg 20, moves the pan to disengage the brackets 14 from the particular rung 2 and moves the leg 20 to disengage it from the next lower rung 2. He then places the pan in the next lower position, again engaging the brackets 14 and the leg 20 with the next lower rung 2. Such relocation of the pan relatively to the ladder is accomplished easily and quickly and is repeated until the painter reaches a position in which he can stand upon the floor and complete the painting of the wall. If convenient for this purpose, the painter can remove the pan from the ladder and place it for support upon the floor.

Whenever it may be desired to disconnect the saddle 15 from the pan all that is required is to move the saddle toward the end pan wall 8 to a position suitably short of the brackets 14 and thereupon, the inturned portions 18 of the saddle side walls 17 being above the beaded edges of the pan side walls 7, by finger pressure to move one of the side walls 17 to a position in which its portion 18 will be clear of the pan wall 7 with which it was engaged. When this has been done the pan and the saddle may readily be separated.

I claim:

.For use with a paint pan of rectangular outline having transverse front and rear walls, side walls and a bottom fashioned to provide a paint well adjacent the rear wall and having a portion inclined downward from the front wall, an intermediate inclined portion, a portion which'provides the bottom of the well, the intermediate inclined portion being inclined downward from the first.

named inclined portion to the well bottom providing portion and supporting engaging brackets attached to and depending from the front wall; a device for the support of the paint pan from the rungs of a ladder with the brackets in engagement with a ladder rung consisting of a saddle of general U-shape and composed of material having a resilient quality, the saddle having a horizontal wall to extend below the bottom of the pan and vertical side walls having front and rear edges, the front edge being relatively shorter than the rear edge and each side wall having a downwardly inturned portion along its upper edge, the inturned portions of 'the saddle side walls being engageable overthe'edge portions of the pan side walls, the saddle in its application to the pan being slidable from a position adjacent the front wall to an operative position in which its horizontal wall abuts the intermediate inclined portion of the pan bottom wall with the relative lengths of the front and rear edges causing the inturned portions'of the side walls to be clampingly engaged over the upper edges of the pan side walls, and a leg hingedly connected to the horizontal wall of the saddle and terminating in a ladder rung engaging fork, the rung for engagement by the fork being below the rung for engagement by the brackets, the saddle also being slidable from its operative position to a position adjacent the brackets in which position it is detachable from the pan.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 363,483 Ramsey May 24, 1887 682,969 Blackburn Sept. 17, 1901 743,899 Lynch Nov. 10, 1903 FOREIGN PATENTS 779,845 France Jan. 19, 1935 

